Resilient wheel.



CHARLES H. wnrsxorn, In. or LOS ANGELEs, CALIFORNIA.

RESILIEN'I WHEEL.

1 Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 1c, 1914-.

Application fil'e'd June 26, 1911. Serial No. 635,456.

1 o all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES" H. Wnis-'noPr', Jr., a citizen of the United States, re-

siding at Los Angeles, in the county of Los .Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have .in-

vented a new and useful Resilient Wheel, of

which the following'is a specification.

The objects of this invention are to provide a cheap, noi-i-puncturableresilient tire that will be a practical substitute for the present ofpneumatic tire with the additional advantage of-being non-punctu'rableand which will not be subject to injury by use i'n case of deflation ofthe inner pneumatic tube;

to provide a separable tire by which to apply the invention tovehicle'wlieels now in use.

This construction includes a rigid anniilar tread which may be of caststeel or'othersuitable material formed 1n one or more pieces and mountedon the telly of the wheel I through the medium of an annular rim andheld apart from such'rim by an elastic pneumatic inner tube; said treadand rim together with connecting elements constitut-' ing a the which ismade resilient by the inner pneumatic tube that may be protected by astrong cover of water proof canvas or other flexible material. 1 Y

'Specific features of theinvention include nieans'for holding andguiding said tread relative to the rim, 1

This invention may be carried" out in different forms and includes thenovel tire and the parts and combinations of parts set forth in thesubjoined detail description. I

T he accompanying drawings illustrate the invention. Figure 1 is afragmenta] side elevation of a resilient wheel constructed in accordancewith this ii'ivention in the form that is atpresent deemed mostdesirable. Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmental detail of the samewheelrviewcd from the other side. Fig. 3 is an irregular cross sectionon line partially indicated by m, Figs. 1 and 2.

The wheel body ncluding the hub'1,

spokes 2 and folly 3, may be of any desired mnterinl and construction,the peripheral face 4 of the .tellybeing preferably cylindrical and thesides 5 of said telly being normal to the axis of the wheel.

Surrounding the felly 3 is a rim composedof two annular sections 6, 7held together by suitable fastening means as the stud bolts threaded atboth ends inserted through and 1.1 to engage t strong eiiective wheel.having a forms with the annular shoulder 14. 6 is provided with anannular gain 15 to reone of the sections 6 and screwed into the othersection 7, and nuts screwed onto the outer ends 01' the bolts 8 theintermediate.

portion of which bolts are preferably cylindrical and unthreaded. Thesections of the sectional rim are rovided with flanges 10 he fiat sides5 of the folly 3, so that when the sections 6 and 7 are clamped in placeon the telly 3, the sectional rim will be firmly held in place on thefelly against lateral displacement. Capscrews a through the felly 3 intothe rim 7 serve to hold the rim rigidly in place and prevent the tirefrom creeping on the telly. The main section 7 of the rim is provided onone s ide with an annular guard 12, the

inner face 13 .of which lies in a plane that isga-rallel with themid-plane of the wheel;

said section is provided on the other side The section ceive saidshoulder 14; and also with anun' 1 nular' guard 16 corresponding to theguard 12 and provided with an inner face 17 which lies in'a planeparallel with the face 13.

thus forming outside themain rim a way 18 in the nature o'f an outwardlyperipherally opening'a-nnular groove.

'Ihetread comprises an annular body 19. having'an inwardly openingannular groove 20 the side walls-21 of which have flat outer parallelfaces 22. fitting between the guards l2 and 16 and being of less radialwidth than said guards, there being lateral annular extensions 23externally of the side. walls 21. and lateral overhanging annular flangeshoulders 24 surrounding flai annular par;

allelhfaces' 25. -The walls-21 are of less depth radially of the wheelthan tbeguards 12 and 16, so that when the parts are asse1nbled and thetelly and rim are relatively moved to-the fullest extent in one:direction,

there will be a considerablevacant. space betweenthe side walls 21 andthe periphery of the section body 7. Said body 7 is providedperipherally with a concave seat in the form ofan annular channel 26, toreceive a "resilient ring or cushioning body as the inner pneumatic tube27 that may be of any approved cemst'ruction and. provided with a canvascover 27; and is supplied with compressed air through the usualtube 28extending through radialfholes 29', 30 in the folly and the rim 7 andprovided with the usual cap 28. The annular shoulders 24 serveseveralpurposes.-;..'lhey form a recess in which the outer ends of.links 31 are pivheaded pin 42 secured to the .vided with retaining earsare provided with d 'niay be fastened in place by the oted bystraight'cylindrical pivots 32 having inwardly tapering stems 33extending through taper holes 34 that extend through the walls 21 andare riveted inside the channel 20 to form heads 35, thus securely fixingthe pivots in the tread. The shoulders 24 also form seats for theretainers which are composed of annular conical bands 36 fastened to thetread 19 by screws 37 and pro- 38 to extend over the outer ends of thelink pivot pins, also to form a protection to prevent objects in thestreet or road from striking the link. The links are arranged in pairsand the members 31 and 31 of each pair converge toward the axis of thewheel and are pivotally connected by pins 39, 40 with a slottedequalizer 41 which is fastened to the sectional rim by a guard 1:2 or 16in much the same manner as the'pins 33 are secured to the tread body 19.The outer heads 43 of said pins 42 engage in countersunk slots 44 in theequalizer and said equalizer is adapted to turn 'pivotally and to sliderelative to the pins 42, thus allowing relative movement between thewheelrim and the tread. Said tread may be made practically in one piece,by casting or otherwise, or may be in-sections securely fastenedtogether by any Well-known means. Said tread is provided with anexternal channel 45 in which is secured in the usual manner a solidrubber tread 46 held by the wire bands 47.

The inner faces of the guards 12 and 16 ovetail channels 48 in which maybe seated felt packing 49 with a view to prevent the admission of dustand dirt into the channel 18.

In practice to assemble the, wheel the rim section 7 may first. beapplied on the outside of the peripheral face 4 of the folly 3 and thecollapsed]inner-pneumatic tube 27 and canvas covering 27 may be movedinto place on the rim section 7 and the valve tube will be passedthror-di the hole 29. Then the tread, devoid of the retaining bands 36and the links 31, 31' is brought into place around the collapsed innertube. ,Thenthe rim Section-(i will he hroughtinto place and secured bythe stud bolts 8 and nuts 3). The equalizers and their links 31, 31 maythen beplaced on the vpins 42 and pivots 32: and the pins 42 may beriveted over to secure the equalizers thereon. Then the retainers 3Gscrews 37, so that the ears 33 will cover the outer ends of the links 31and 31". The inner tube may then be inflated in the usual manner, thusholdingfthe tread equidistant at all points from the rim.

parallel sides 5 as shown in the drawing. but

Copier- .ot this patent may be obtained for of the whe l shall have'neled rim,

five cents each, by Wash1ngton, It. 0.

it is understood that in any instance the rim section 7 and 6 may beconstructed to lit a given folly so that they together with the partsexternal thereto may he mamitau-tured independently of the hub, spokes,and lollies of the wheels, to which they are to be applied but withreference thereto, thus allowing the manufacturer to simply make,assemble and market the rim and the parts external thereto as a tire tobe applied as a substitute for the tires of wheels already in use, therim of each tire being constructed to fit any one of the wheel folliesof a deter mined type and size.

The sectional rim and the both provided with annular shown supply anannular houses the pneumatic tube from external attack.

I claim 2- 1. A wheel comprising a telly, a swlional rim for the telly,means to lix the rim sec tions on the felly, a tread on the rim andmovable in a path normal to the axis of the wheel, a resilient ringbetween the tread and the rim and paired pivoted links and equal izcrmeans joining the links of Cilt'll pair to guide said tread in saidpath.

2. A wheel comprising a channeled rim, a tread provided with annularside walls working in said channeled rim, equalizers tread, beingchannels as. chamber that and preserves 1t pivoted to the rim, linkspivoted at their ends to the equalizers and to the annular side walls tolimit the outward movement of the tread, and a pnemnatic tube forrcsiliently holding the tread and rim apart;

The combination with a folly, of a chun a tread provided with a channeland with side walls extending in the chair nel of the rim, a pneumatictube bctwecn'the rim and trend. pins on the rimyequalizers provided withslots on said pins amlpairs of links pivotally connecting the trend withsaid equalizers on opposite sides of their pins respectively. i i

4. A wheel comprising a felly, a rim for the felly, means to fix thcrimon the telly. a tread on the rim and movable in a path normal to theaxis of the wheel, a resilient hodv between the tread and the rim, linksto guide said tread in said path. pins connecting the links to thetread, lateral annular flange shoulders on the trend and overhang in;the guide means, and retaining ears on said. shoulders extending overthe outer ends of said pins. I

In testimony whereof. I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles,California, this 20th day of June, 1911. i C. H. WElb'KOPF, .lu. inpresence of- Jam-rs R. Townsuun, L. Burma RICE.

addressing the "Oommiiasionr of Patents,

ill)

